"Jennifer’s Bodies is a roving annual festival of female-helmed horror movies and part of Women In Horror Recognition Month, an international assortment of affiliated events organised partly to highlight just how much women can and do contribute to the genre outwith the typically accepted factors of tits, ass and mezzosoprano screaming." Starburst Magazine

Thursday, 1 February 2018

Women in Horror Spotlight - Melanie Light

Throughout the month of February, I am going to be highlighting some of the most influential and kickass women in horror and pay tribute to some of the amazing things they have used their voice and their art to speak out about regarding various issues in our society.

With the dairy industry responding to Veganuary with their Februdairy campaign, I felt that Melanie Light was absolutely the number one woman to start this series off with.

First and foremost, Melanie is an awesome fucking individual, end of. For everything that I believe in, I feel that she's one of my total girly soulmates. Through her art, she totally expresses the way that I think and feel about so much, and in a way, that I have yet to be able to even properly express myself. That makes her a true inspiration in my eyes, and also why I think everyone needs to see her work.

A little while ago, one of my young staff members had been asking for scary films to watch, I sent him a link to The Herd. It genuinely got to him. So much so that when one of our friends asked just last week for us to recommend scary films to him, I was asked the name of the film I had recommended to his bud and re-shared the link. I got some really awesome feedback with people asking for me to recommend more films like that, and others checking out Melanie's other work on their own and absolutely loving it which was really awesome to hear.

The thing with The Herd, is that to "normal" society (don't even know what the fuck that means, haha), the dairy industry is totally cool and what's wrong with "milkin' a coo" and all that?! When you show them it from a human perspective, from the truly non-specist point of view, it suddenly becomes this utterly horrific and brutal situation that they wouldn't wish on their worst enemy! It's really weird.

I feel that Melanie encaptures everything here, from animal rights to feminism and how society deems those they feel are "lesser creatures" (animals and humans), and in the most beautifully graphic and on point way possible. This is one of the films I recommend the most when people ask me to recommend stuff to watch. I love films that are not only wonderfully dark but dark for a purpose, because they reflect society's general human acceptance of the most twisted of things.

Please watch The Herd, have a wee think about it and then be sure to let me know your thoughts! :)

Want to know what is probably the most truly inspirational thing about this awesome chick....she literally went from making films about serial killers to animal rights with her feminist art. Don't think I need to point out the beautiful irony and wonder of this. Melanie is awesome and so incredibly fearless in her fight to end cruelty to both animals and women, end of! We need more Light in our lives! <3

If you like The Herd, or are curious about Melanie's film growth, then please be sure to check out her website. If you are particularly wanting to see more animal rights stuff, then definitely check out The Skin You're In on her website, as well as Vimeo. Also be totally sure to check out Switch and Escape for lots of killer goodness as well!

Oooh, side note.....these are just Melanie's amazing films that she's done herself, she has also worked on a shit load of awesome films including The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Cockneys vs Zombies, Doghouse and Centurian.

Her most recent work is Crispian Mills new film, Slaughterhouse Rulz. Yup, the Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker for all y'all 90's kids like moi, haha. He's also the Crispian who wrote the brilliant and severely underrated A Fantastic Fear of Everything, and is getting us Simon Pegg and Nick Frost back together, woohoo! :)

Just to balance out the dark subject matter though, I think we need some Melanie doing work with the Animal Justice Project showing that happiness is truly being covered in piglets! :)